When Steren first got on a ship, she recalled a lot of romantic tales and legends about the sea. People gossiped about horrible squids that could pick a ship apart, ghost fire that accompanied long ship journeys and distant islands with impossible features that might as well come from a dream, but what fascinated her most was tales about the mermaids.
It was said that they were beautiful and had an enchanting singing voice that crashed many ships. Their tears were perfectly white pearls, and the clothes they wove were white and light like frost, but strong and waterproof. However, they lived deep in the sea so few people saw them.
Then a storm broke the ship apart, throwing Steren into the ocean. She clung to a piece of wood and swam as fast as possible, but the shore was far. Exhausted, she wondered whether she could make it. When a wave toppled her, she thought she was going to die.
A pair of strong arms pulled her out from the water. She was coughing and struggling to breathe. When her vision was clear enough to see her rescuer, her heart raced like a horse in battleground.
Her rescuer's eyes were as beautiful as the calm sea under moonlight, and his lips would feature in every fair maiden's fantasy. Pressing so close against the rescuer's muscular body, Steren noticed he was wearing small clam shells on his chest, which only made him look more sensual.
Her rescuer looked down at her and remained quiet. Then he dragged Steren along while swimming to the shore.
"Thank you," Steren said. Her face heated up as the mermaid must have noticed her blatant look. She thought she had better manners and sense than that.
The mermaid put her on the beach before swimming away. Steren stared at him until the mermaid disappeared from her view, trying to memorise every detail of that. It was beyond her wildest dream.
Steren didn't tell anyone about her encounter with mermaids. However, the monarch declared a huge bounty for captured mermaids several years later. This created a controversy in the court. Some courtiers pointed out that it wasn't worth sending people and money to capture something that might as well be legends. Besides, mermaids were rumoured to be dangerous.
The monarch silenced the opposition with the execution of several vocal ministers and their families. He assigned his favourite courtier to lead a navy fleet deep into the ocean.
Dread filled Steren's heart when she heard that the ships brought back a mermaid's dead body. She begged, bribed and pulled favour for a chance to see it, while praying to several gods that it wasn't her rescuer.
Even though the mermaid's tail and face were in decay, Steren could see that it was too short to be her rescuer. However, her heart felt heavy as she saw the cuts and wounds on the mermaid's body. The monarch has declared war against the mermaids, who would fight back for their survival.
Her fear became true when the mermaids crashed the first ship.
The country was locked into a bloody war because of the monarch's mad desire. As a military officer, Steren was assigned to strengthen the coastal defence. Perhaps because nature sided with the mermaids, wild storms and waves frequently attacked the country, while mermaids brought down their ships.
Both sides had casualties. Steren prayed for the war to end soon and her rescuer to survive the war. She always checked out the mermaid bodies when available and was selfishly relieved that her rescuer wasn't among them.
When she was checking a coastal watch, the tide was so big that she was dragged into the sea. Sinking into the water, Steren thought perhaps she deserved this fate.
Then someone grabbed her out of the water.
Steren couldn't believe her eyes as it was again her rescuer. He was even more beautiful and his body exuded strength and sensuality, but his eyes were cold like the night sea.
Steren wondered what he was thinking, but the mermaid brought her to an island.
"Wait!" Steren said, "What do you want of me?"
The mermaid shrugged in a very human manner before swimming away.
Steren found trees to build a shelter with cordage washed up shore above the tide line. She also built a fire to boil water in coconut shells.
A loud sound from below caught his attention when she was sharpening a stick to catch fish. She walked down to the shore with the stick and saw that the mermaid returned with several large stingrays in his hands. He threw them to the shore but remained in the water.
Dropping the stick to the ground, Steren ran to him. "Please wait!"
Surprisingly, the mermaid didn't leave. Steren picked up the stingrays slowly, but the mermaid only watched her quietly.
He prepared them for me, Steren thought. Why does he want me to survive? Does he remember me?
"Do you want to try cooked fish?" Steren asked, cutting off the track of thoughts.
Steren wrapped a fish with large leaves for cooking, and dried the rest to preserve them.
"I'm very grateful you have saved me twice," Steren said. "I owe you my life, and I'll repay you as much as I can."
To keep the mermaid's interest, she talked about her childhood and places she saw, carefully avoiding the subject of wars and the monarch. Watching the mermaid, Steren's voice grew soft and slow. It was like her dream coming true and she didn't want to break the fantasy.
"Do you want to talk with me?" She asked.
The mermaid bent his head and tail ventrally. The glimpse of his black tail and white tail fin was mesmerising. He ate a healthy bite of the cooked fish before leaving.
It was probably Steren's last chance to meet the mermaid, but it was worth it.
However, the mermaid returned the next day.
Steren made sure the mermaid could watch her while she set up a tide trap with large stones to catch fish, so the mermaid could stop her if he wanted, but the mermaid seemed content to watch her work. He also ate the coconut Steren shared with her. Steren felt that she was living her dream.
Greedily, she would like to talk with the mermaid, but probably that the mermaid didn't speak human language. Steren was determined to remember every detail of him, so she could savour every memory of the mermaid for her remaining life.
After awhile, she was certain that the mermaid didn't want her to leave the island.
Does he want me as a human pet? Steren wondered. It seemed fair as humans also kept fish in their aquarium. She was content with her peaceful life with the mermaid.
The mermaid was absent for several days before returning with a bandaged arm. The white bandage looked soft and thin, but Steren wasn't interested in figuring out the nature of the mysterious materials.
The war was still going on. Her mermaid was in danger.
Steren hugged his shoulders loosely so that the mermaid could get free from her, but the mermaid seemed content to rest his head against her neck.
"Sorry…sorry…" Steren's face got wet. Her words felt useless and vain.
The mermaid raised his head and sang.
Steren was carried away by his song. She was overwhelmed with the mermaid's joy and freedom of swimming and playing with his own people in the sea. Her every cell vibrated with the lighthearted notes.
Then she saw the humans catching and killing the mermaids. The sorrow and anger were so heavy that Steren reached for her absent sword to try to go against the humans. Her heart broke with the mermaid's pain.
Then she saw her face, younger and softer than she looked in the mirror. She felt curiosity and tentative hope and…
The mermaid's singing stopped. Steren now understood why there was a legend that people starved to their death after hearing mermaids' songs, because she could see how they would waste away so as not to interrupt the song. Her heart was bursting with determination though, so she told the mermaid. "Let me return to the land and fix it for you."
Then she gathered her courage and asked, "May I know your name?"
The mermaid made a sound like a bird chirping. Steren repeated after him several times in vain until the mermaid brushed her cheeks.
Cyrsas, the mermaid said in her mind.
The next day Steren woke up to a wet wooden rowboat by the beach the next day. Cyrsas watched her from afar when Steren fixed the boat and swam away after following her for a distance.
Steren set her path for the shore. She had a mission.
People still talked about the rise of Steren right after her coronation. When she resurfaced after her presumed death in the sea, she threw herself into politics and formed allies with people disgruntled about the old rule. Then she overthrew the old dynasty and established herself as the new ruler. The first thing she did was cease the war with the mermaids, which helped solidify her power.
Steren was still single, so many nobles and courtiers wanted to arrange their children to marry him. So far Steren has declined the request to marry a spouse, citing the need of the country overweighting her personal desire.
"You should rest, Yours Majesty," Steren's loyal custodian said as Steren worked late to deep at night. "Your wellbeing is important."
Steren smiled and waved her away, continuing to work on the paperwork and spreadsheet. When she coughed painfully, she used a handkerchief to collect the seaweed flowering shoots she coughed out and throw the flowering parts to the furnace.
The first time she coughed out a yellow flowering shoot, she thought she was poisoned. After secretly checking up the royal book collection, she found that this matched the symptom of a magical disease that only affected those with unrequited feelings and there was no known cure.
Steren laughed bitterly and hid her illness so that her enemies wouldn't use this as a weapon against her. She criminalised harming or capturing mermaids at the beginning of her reign, and she would see it through.
She thought about Cyrsas in her free time and often dreamed about him. He was probably happy with his people and enjoyed the peace. This was enough to keep Steren going.
After the ministers and the courtiers' repeated suggestion, Steren went to the coastal town where she was reunited with Cyrsas for a vacation.
It looked different now as she invested in rebuilding the country and improving the infrastructure, but the sea looked the same the last time she went to the town. She went there several times when the political situation was more stable, but hasn't seen Cyrsas. This would be wise of him, and she prayed for his safety throughout the time.
She took a walk by the coastline, recalling the time she spent with Cyrsas. Cyrsas's silky dark hair was softer than she thought. Sometimes it brushed Steren's hands when Cyrsas sat by her side. She would discreetly play with it and could still recall the sensation.
Then she saw a familiar shape in the ocean.
She froze. She had to be dreaming. This would be impossible.
Cyrsas rose out of the water and smiled at her.
Steren jumped into the sea and held him in her arms. Cyrsas rested his head against her neck and kissed her. Steren felt like she was in heaven.
Her throat felt lighter from that moment. From this day she stopped coughing flowers.
There was a big pool in the palace Steren inherited from. Cyrsas seemed to be happy floating in the water, eating slices of fresh fish and meat fed by Steren.
Steren spent her free time with Cyrsas , checking that he was well and happy. Sometimes she talked about the time they were separated in a curated account. Sometimes she stayed with him in the pond, kissing, and touching each other. She spent half a year coastwise, so Cyrsas could return to the sea.
She was even more hardworking to ensure that she had enough power to protect him.
She felt that her life was perfect.
One day, Cyrsas wore a tight cut flimsy white lingerie that revealed much more than it covered. Steren's mouth dried up at the tantalising sight. She threw herself towards Cyrsas and kissed him.
Cyrsas pressed her against the wall of the pool and kissed along his back. Perhaps a mermaid's kisses were magical, because it lit up fire everywhere in her body.
Then Cyrsas stretched and filled her body with something large and long, emitting liquid to ease its passage.
Steren's heart stopped when she realised what it was. Cyrsas' penis was retractable and usually hid behind a slit, so she didn't expect him to be so large. She loved how patient and careful of Cyrsas was, while filling her to the deepest. Her temporary discomfort dissolved into pleasure, so she pushed back and moaned shamelessly to encourage her lover to take what he wanted. She would be ruined by Cyrsas from now on, and she was fine with it.
Cyrsas was her deity, and she was his most devoted worshipper.
When he came, it was so much that wet liquid leaked from Steren's body. Steren was tempted to scoop it up for a taste, so she dived lower to lick and fondled the slit on his underside until Cyrsas extended his penis again. Steren drank every drop of him and got hungry for more.
She would never be satisfied now.
Several months Steren got tired easier and her stomach became larger. His chest also became more swollen. She thought she was getting ill, so she summoned a doctor.
"You're pregnant, Yours Majesty," the doctor said.
Steren was surprised. While she has idly wondered about the possibility, she didn't expect a mermaid could impregnate a human
Cyrsas hugged her when Steren got into the water to share the news.
"I'm having your kids," Steren told him.
Cyrsas necked her while wrapping her up with his tail. Then he touched her cheeks. Steren saw a little mermaid with eyes like Cyrsas swimming around them.
Steren was speechless. Then she laughed. "You already knew."
Cyrsas bent down to kiss her abdomen and downward. Soon Steren was moaning and coming as Cyrsas's beautiful lips ate her out.
She needed a plan for her family's safety, Steren thought afterwards.
Despite Steren's worry, she slept through the delivery in the water and woke up to a small mermaid swimming around them. His hair was orange, but he looked like the one Cyrsas showed her in vision. She let Cyrsas name him. Their son would probably return to the sea and live with other mermaids when he was older. It was better he had a name that fit.
Cyrsas named him Sohon.
When Steren came to them, Cyrsas was cradling and talking with him. Sohon made a hungry sound, so Steren put him on her chest.
It was still new and strange to nurse a baby, but it was their baby.
When Sohon had enough and fell asleep, Cyrsas took him back and put another arm around Steren. He was as beautiful as the first time Steren saw him. Steren's heart was forever lost to him.
Steren leaned into his arms and kissed Cyrsas while being mindful of Sohon. They were the most important people in her life. Steren would do everything to keep them safe.